Literature Reviews - Research Guide

Developing a Search Strategy

Once you have formulated your review topic, you can devise your search strategy:

Keyword and phrase search

Use the main concepts and keywords of the review topic as the basis of your search strategy.
When searching for phrases, place your search terms in double inverted commas - for example, "public health".
This will search for the words as a phrase and in that order. 
Tip: Turn off smart quotes (curly quotation marks) in your Word document, as the formatting corrupts search strings - for example "public health" rather than “public health”

When creating a search strategy, consider synonyms for your keywords and group them together as a concept string.
Identify subject-specific terms for your topic in textbooks, lecture notes, subject-specific encyclopaedias and dictionaries or articles.
Tip: alphabetise search words to easily identify duplication

Check that each search word adds value to your search  i.e. that it returns relevant results.

In some disciplines, you may need to combine keywords and phrases with controlled vocabulary terms  (eg Medical Subject Headings) to comprehensively describe your review topic.
Example ("hand disinfection" OR "hand hygiene" OR handwash*)

Search the main concepts first, then limit further as necessary.

Be aware of differences in American and English spelling and terminology.
Most databases use American spelling and terminology as preferred subject terms.

Include hyphenated words a both one word, as well as a phrase.
Do not include punctuation (databases either ignore a hyphen, or it corrupts the search string).
For example (noncoding OR "non coding").

Include abbreviations.
For example: ("superior thalamic radiation" OR STR)

Search types

The blog post Structure of search strategies for systematic reviews: Line by line versus block by block versus single-line explains the different ways of structuring a search.

Use connectors (Boolean operators)

Boolean operators connect phrases or keywords to improve your search results.
These determine the relationship between concepts:

Use truncation/stemming and wildcard symbols

A truncator is used to retrieve variations of a word (plurals, nouns, etc.) in a database.
The symbol commonly used is the asterisk *.
For example, develop* will retrieve develop, development, developmental, developmentally, developments, etc.
Use truncation carefully.
For example, cat* will retrieve catalogue, catastrophic, catatonic, catfish, catholic …​
You can use a truncation symbol in conjunction with phrase searching. 
For example,  "tandem repeat*" will give the same results for ("tandem repeat" OR "tandem repeats" OR "tandem repeating")

A wildcard replaces a single letter within your word.
For example, behavio?r will retrieve behaviour and behavior; organi?ation will retrieve: organisation and organization
A wildcard can also be used where alternate spelling may contain an extra character, p?ediatric, will search paediatric or pediatric

Wildcard and truncation symbols vary from database to database.
Check the database help section to identify the correct wildcard and truncation symbols.

Contextual limits

Check whether any search limits apply:

• Animal / Species / Human
• Age
• Gender
• Year(s) of publication
• Location / Jurisdiction
• Language(s)

These limits should also be included in your search words, or by using search filters on the database search pages.

Other considerations:

• most cited authors
• most relevant journals
• document types

Database Thesaurus and MeSH (Medical Subject Headings)

See the tab for Using Thesaurus Terms and Subject Headings in Searches

Bring it all together

You can combine all of the elements (keywords, subject headings and synonyms) described above to create a search strategy:

Other database features

Many databases offer a variety of search features including limiting options, thesaurus buttons and field searching, which can enhance your search results.
To find out what specific features a database offers, refer to its search help or tips.

Advanced Database Searching

The Advanced Searching video [5:41mins] describes the process for creating search strings using Boolean operators.

Ask a Librarian to Review Your Search

If your literature search is not resulting in relevant results, you can ask a Librarian to review your search words and search strings by submitting a Murdoch Support request.

Include your topic, initial search words, synonyms, search strings and databases searched.

Subject headings are a set of predetermined terms that describe specific concepts.
Subject headings are also called controlled vocabularies, index terms, or a thesaurus. 

Databases (especially in health) include a thesaurus or subject headings - but not every database utilises subject headings.
Databases may have their own subject headings that do not translate to other databases. 

In addition to identifying search words and synonyms, search the thesaurus or subject headings list to identify relevant terms in the thesaurus, as these are comprehensive.

Examples of database subject headings:

Advantages of using subject headings:

• controlled vocabulary
• consistently applied – all articles with the same subject heading will have that as a key concept​
• assigned by an indexer/librarian after reading the content of the article​
• compiled into a thesaurus that can be searched.

Combining subject headings with free-text terms will make your search more comprehensive.

To identify subject headings for your search concepts:

• search the subject heading thesaurus of the database to identify relevant terms for each search concept
• choose the most relevant term 
• copy and paste terms into your search planner or other documentation
• add to both concepts a subject heading that combines the two concepts
• combine two separate subject headings if required to appropriately describe a concept
• look at the subject headings used for relevant articles on your topic - do you want to use these as well?
• add your chosen subject headings as free-text terms (keywords).

For more information on how to use MeSH:

• Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) in MEDLINE/PubMed: A Tutorial
• How to use the medical subject headings (MeSH)

The Systematic Searches series of videos from Yale University on systematic searches demonstrate how to build effective search strategies in databases.

Sample Search Strategy

Topic: Toxicological profiling by hair analysis: Detecting and measuring the abuse of illicit drugs​

Concepts and Synonyms:

​Concept strings: 

"hair analy*"

(concentrat* OR detect* OR measure* OR screen* OR test*)

("drugs of abuse" OR "illicit drug*" OR "illicit substance" OR "illicit substance*" OR ​"substance abuse")

Search strategy: ​

1. ​"hair analy*"
2. AND (concentrat* OR detect* OR measure* OR screen* OR test*)
3. AND ("drugs of abuse" OR "illicit drug*" OR "illicit substance*" OR ​"substance abuse" OR fentanyl OR oxycodone)

​Search string: 

"hair analy*" AND (concentrat* OR detect* OR measure* OR screen* OR test*) AND ("drug* of abuse" OR "illicit drug*" OR "illicit substance*" OR "substance abuse" OR fentanyl OR oxycodone)

Sample Search Strategy

Topic: Modelling of water distribution in buildings

Concepts and Synonyms:

​Concept strings: 

(model* OR simulat*)

("water demand" OR "water distribution" OR "water flow" OR "water supply")

(architect* OR build* OR engineer*)

Search strategy: ​

1. ​(model* OR simulat*)
2. AND ("water demand" OR "water distribution" OR "water flow" OR "water supply")
3. AND (architect* OR build* OR engineer*)

​Search string: 

(model* OR simulat*) AND ("water demand" OR "water distribution" OR "water flow" OR "water supply") AND (architect* OR build* OR engineer*)

Sample Search Strategy

Topic: Pathogenesis of Sunshine Virus in Australian snakes

Concepts and Synonyms:

​Concept strings: 

(pathogenesis OR aetiology OR etiology)

("sunshine virus" OR paramyxovirus)

(snake* OR python* OR reptil*)

Australia

Search strategy: ​

1. (pathogenesis OR aetiology OR etiology)
2. AND ("sunshine virus" OR paramyxovirus)
3. AND (snake* OR python* OR reptil*)
4. AND Australia

​Search string: 

(pathogenesis OR aetiology OR etiology) AND ("sunshine virus" OR paramyxovirus) AND (snake* OR python* OR reptil*) AND Australia

Sample Search Strategy

Topic: The association between social media use and adolescent eating disorders

Concepts and Synonyms:

​Concept strings: 

("social media" OR "social network*" OR Facebook OR Instagram OR TikTok)

(adolescen* OR juvenile* OR teen* OR "young adult*" OR youth*)

(anore* OR bulimi* OR "disordered eating" OR "eating disorder*")

Search strategy: ​

1. ("social media" OR "social network*" OR Facebook OR Instagram OR TikTok)
2. AND (adolescen* OR juvenile" OR teen* OR "young adult*" OR youth*)
3. AND (anore* OR bulimi* OR "disordered eating" OR "eating disorder*")

(("social media" OR "social network*" OR Facebook OR Instagram OR TikTok) AND (adolescen* OR juvenile* OR teen* OR "young adult*" OR youth)) AND (anore* OR bulimi* OR "disordered eating" OR "eating disorder*")

PsycINFO search string including subject headings:

((("social media" OR "social network*" OR Facebook OR Instagram OR TikTok) AND (adolescen* OR juvenile* OR teen* OR "young adult*" OR youth*)) AND (anore* OR bulimi* OR "disordered eating" OR "eating disorder*")) AND mainsubject.Exact("adolescent" OR "eating disorders" OR "social media" OR "teen-ager")

PubMed search including MeSH terms:  [PubMed Advanced Search Video]

Practice Creating a Search String

Clear form

Ask a Librarian to Review Your Search

If your literature search is not resulting in relevant results, you can ask a Librarian to review your search words and search strings by submitting a Murdoch Support request.

Include your topic, initial search words, synonyms, search strings and databases searched.

Locating the Literature

Search tools:

• Databases

• Library Search​

• Google Scholar

Databases

Databases are the major resource for finding journal articles and have important functionality.​ ​

If you learn how to use databases effectively, your research will be much more productive and of much higher quality​ ​

Databases may be multidisciplinary or subject specific​ ​.

Databases help you use keywords to find a list of relevant resources on a topic.

The databases subscribed to by the the Murdoch University Library  are produced by scholarly publishers, with all content peer-reviewed.
They are collections of citations (or references) to journal articles, conference papers, books, etc.
They may include citations; citations and abstracts; or citations, abstracts and full text articles.

Databases have different searching interfaces - with different terminology and techniques for searching, so for information about how best to search a database, use the Help option within that database.

For a comprehensive literature search, you will need to use more than one database

Subject guides include lists of relevant databases:

• Engineering and Energy databases

• Forensic Science and Toxicology databases

• Psychology databases

• Veterinary Medicine

The list of All Databases can be searched by database title or by subject to see the key databases in your area of research.  

Database Alerting Services

Many databases including Scopus, Web of Science, Medline, PsycINFO, and others allow you to save searches and create alerts​ ​

You may be required to create a personal login, this is free and easy - always use your Murdoch email address for this purpose​ ​

You will be emailed when new references relevant to your search are published and added to the database​ ​

Alerts can be individually scheduled

Mine Reference Lists / Citations

Identify the most cited relevant references from the reference list in articles.

You can then search for the most cited articles, to see other relevant articles that have also cited these articles.

This is useful if you have a scope of, for example, the last 5 years, and find a seminal article outside this date scope.

Search for the seminal article, using the filter of past 5 years, to source articles citing the seminal article that have recently cited this work.

Library Search

Library Search is the easiest way to search the Library’s print and digital resources from a single search box. It's a quick way to locate items you may already have details about or a useful tool when you need to find high quality resources on a topic.

However, you should use databases rather than Library Search when you need to find comprehensive or specialised information in your subject area.

Search results can be refined by filters such as Publication Date, Peer-Reviewed, Content Type, or Subject.

The How to use Library Search page has more detailed information.

Resource Sharing

If a particular book, journal article or other resource is not held in the University Library, you can request it from another library using our free services:

• Document Delivery - allows you to request material from other libraries
• In person - borrow books from other university libraries in Western Australia

Google Scholar

Google Scholar is not a substitute for databases, but can be useful.

Set up Google Scholar to source articles from the Murdoch University Library's resources.

Go to Google Scholar.

Click on the 3 lines in the top left of screen (hamburger menu icon).

Select Settings.

Select Library links from the Settings menu. 

Type 'Murdoch' into the search box and click Find Library.

Tick the box next to  Murdoch University - Find it@Murdoch .

Save your new settings.

Now when you search for articles in Google Scholar, you will see a link to Murdoch to the right in the Results list if the articles are in our collection.

This will make it easier for you to determine the title of the journal the articles or studies are published in.

You can then search Ulrichsweb to check if the article is from a peer-review journal.

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Searching the Literature Checklist

1. Have you discussed relevant resources with your supervisor?
2. Have you considered keeping a search diary?
3. Have you developed a potential search strategy before starting to search?
4. Have you fully described the keywords and concepts for your review topic and the relationship between these keywords and concepts?
5. Have you identified the most appropriate databases and other resources for your literature search?
6. Do you know how to locate any resources that are not held by the University Library?
7. Have you sought assistance from our Librarians?